Walking through the dark streets of Neim, Kelsey debated warning Melody about the trap that was waiting for them but decided not to. She wasn’t worried about beating the thugs, she was much more concerned with fighting them while keeping her skills hidden.
Melody was on edge, clearly expecting the thugs to jump out of each shadow they passed. As they got closer to Melody’s house, her anxiety got worse and worse, and she kept looking to Kelsey for reassurance. “Are you sure you can take those guys? All three of them? They didn’t seem as strong as you, but one of them was close. How confident are you?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.” Kelsey answered, trying to sound confident.
I think I’ll use wind and spatial magic. I should have two classes by now, so it would be normal for me to have two different elements. I still have those telekinetic great swords that I used against the werewolves, maybe I can use a few of them...
A few minutes later, the pair were finally coming up to the house, and Kelsey decided to feign ignorance, loud enough for the henchmen inside to hear. “I guess they were too scared to come. Looks like you won’t have to worry about them tonight.”
Melody gave her a small smile as she went to unlock the door, only to notice that the lock had been destroyed. “They’re ins-” she started to scream before she was cut off by the front door opening and slamming into her hard enough for the door itself to splinter and shatter. Melody was sent spinning into the stone courtyard.
Wasting no time, Kelsey increased her mental speed to the maximum and began manipulating the air around the thugs. First, she created a small burst of wind behind each of them, throwing them off balance. Then used a mixture of Creation and Manipulation to create a large pocket of air beneath them, which she then made expand upwards, slamming the trio of henchmen into the ceiling. The three thugs burst through the ceiling and then the roof, before arcing out and landing scattered around the front of the house.
By this point, Melody was getting to her feet. She darted as quickly as she could inside her house, presumably to retrieve her cutlass which she had not brought to the auction. The three thugs were also making their way to their feet, clearly dazed from unexpected assault by Kelsey’s wind magic.
“If you back off now, we don’t have to fight.” Kelsey said calmly as she let some of her mana regeneration leak out of her skin.
The thugs clearly didn’t see her threat as legitimate, as the two warriors began drawing their weapons, and the mage started channeling mana into some sort of unknown attack. One of the warriors was using a two-handed longsword, and the other was using a short one-handed mace. Kelsey didn’t wait to see what they were going to do, and she summoned six of her telekinetic great swords and began controlling them with her manipulation. She didn’t have any desire to kill these three random underlings, so she sent three great swords against each of the warriors. It was difficult to split her attention between so many enemies, but she had quite a bit of practice controlling more weapons than six at one time.
She just needed to hold them off long enough for Melody to get back out with her sword, and then she would be able to focus on taking them down non-lethally. The mage was planning on making that difficult however, as Kelsey saw the mana the man had been channeling rush into the ground below. Large roots and wood exploded out of the dirt and rushed at Kelsey, lunging at her with pointed, spear-like tips.
Kelsey began dodging backwards as she created blades of wind and launched them at the attacking roots. Fucking wood magic. Of course. As she backed up, she felt her dress start to slip downwards, just like she had feared. So, she took a moment of extra time to store the dress and summon a new set of leather armor onto her body.
This momentary distraction was just significant enough that the warrior with the longsword was able to capitalize on it. Breaking off from the attacking blades, the man rushed at her with a burst of fire mana at his feet, launching himself towards her, his weapon pointed directly at her heart.
Kelsey wasn’t able to teleport, if she did the connection to her great swords would be lost and she would have to deal with both warriors at the same time without them. Instead, she decided to just take the sword hit while focusing on the mage and the mace wielder.
As the longsword pierced her heart, Kelsey lifted her fist and slammed it into the man’s face, empowering her punch with wind mana. The magic infused punch connected with his head, instantly breaking several of the bones in his face, launching him backwards. As he flew away, his sword was pulled out with him, giving Kelsey the opportunity for her regeneration to take care of the wound.
That would have been a deadly wound for anyone else.
As the man soared away and slammed into a nearby building, she refocused her efforts on the mace wielder, trying to land a few small wounds on his body. She needed to do as much damage to him as possible or Melody wouldn't stand a chance. Melody was only level 106, barely into gold rank. Her secondary class was likely quite low as well, she would have a tough time against the mace warrior if Kelsey couldn't do some damage.
While dodging the vines and roots to the best of her ability, Kelsey managed to force the man to make three small mistakes that left his left arm, stomach, and left leg wounded.
Kelsey was unable to accomplish any more, as in her distracted state, the wood mage had cornered her against a building with his magic and jammed several wooden spears into her extremities. She was forced to stop her assault on the mace wieldier and use a blade of air magic to break the wooden spears before leaping into the sky and sending a burst of wind at the wood mage, who responded by creating a barrier of wood to block the attack.
Melody exited her house and started fighting against the warrior with the one-handed mace. “Don’t kill him!” Kelsey shouted as she saw the magician begin fighting.
Melody looked slightly confused, but nodded and took over for Kelsey’s great swords, which Kelsey brought to her side mid-air and stored while continuing to defend against the mage’s wooden assault.
She still had the three greats words that had been fighting the longsword warrior, so she sent them towards the mage, in the hopes of interrupting his onslaught. This thankfully worked, and Kelsey was able to take a momentary breather to survey the fight.
Thanks to a few small wounds Kelsey had been able to inflict on the man with the mace, Melody was easily winning the fight. It turned out that Melody used illusion magic with her secondary class. To all of Kelsey’s senses, she would see Melody’s blade whip out, striking for the head, only for a moment later see the image fade and her real blade strike at the legs.
The man Kelsey had punched was laying down unconscious inside the wall of a nearby house. She could see the residents panicking, and even saw the husband pull out a guild card and send some mana into it.
Good, a Classer should be here soon.
The mage however was faring quite well. As Kelsey’s great swords got close, a wooden spike, or a root would lash out and deflect the blade effortlessly. Deciding the mage was the biggest threat, Kelsey started channeling some mana to create a large ball of wind above the mage. After a few seconds of meditation enhanced regeneration, she launched the ball of wind downwards. The mage reacted by manipulating the roots, creating a dome of wood around himself.
Oh? A Wood Creator? Interesting.
His defenses weren't enough against Kelsey's wind attack however and the dome cracked and shattered under the pressure, the ball of air slamming into the mage from above. The mage was forced into the ground, a small crater forming in the cobbled streets from the impact.
He was still conscious, and no doubt would have tried to fight back, but this attack was the clear end to the fight as the mace wielder was distracted just long enough by the impact for Melody to sneak in and cut at the man’s arm muscles, causing his arm to hang limply by his side. Melody lashed out with her sword and put it against his throat, daring him to move. While this happened, Kelsey withdrew her great swords and stored them back in her vault.
Seeing this, the wood mage hung his head and lifted his arms in surrender.
The night was still and silent after the culmination of the very short battle. The entire fight had only lasted a few seconds, and they waited silently for several more until a group of Guild Classers arrived, each wearing platinum tags around their necks. They seemed to be a real party, as each of them was wearing the same green and gold colored armor. There were two women and one man. One of the women in robes seemed to be their leader as she was standing at the front and surveying the scene carefully.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
As the Classers arrived, Kelsey put up her hands and motioned for Melody to do the same. She complied and sheathed her sword before putting up her hands non-threateningly.
The moment she did, the mace wielding man sprang into action and tried to run away. He didn’t get even two steps away before one of the Classer’s appeared at his side and knocked him out effortlessly.
“Report.” The leader of the party said as she walked up towards Kelsey.
“Ambush, ma’am. We were coming home from an event, and they were lying in wait in my friend’s house.” Kelsey answered simply.
“Very well, would you be willing to agree to an oath to confirm those accusations?” she asked.
“Yes.”
A few minutes later a middle-aged man walked up to the scene and offered Kelsey a quick oath. It wasn’t a blood oath, just a simple binding oath that would tell him if Kelsey was lying. She quickly accepted the oath and the man nodded in confirmation that she was telling the truth.
“Very well, you two are free to go if you’d like. We would be grateful if you would answer some questions though.” She said before turning to her team. “Alright everyone, grab the attackers and let’s take them in for questioning.”
Kelsey nodded her head. "Sure, not a problem. We can answer some questions."
“Thanks for coming so quickly!” Melody chimed in cheerily as the squad started gathering the unconscious henchmen.
“Our pleasure, we’re just glad you two weren’t hurt.” She said before she turned to assist the rest of her group.
Kelsey and Melody spent the next few minutes discussing and talking about their evening at the auction, and why these people attacked. The Classers asked a few more questions about the fight itself, trying to get their stories. Kelsey and Melody were completely honest, but Kelsey refused to talk about how the fight actually went down. She didn’t see a need to give this random party private information like that, even if they were part of the Guild.
I can’t wait until I’m strong enough to not need to hide my skills. This secrecy is exhausting.
After the group of Classers were finished with their questioning, they left and took the thugs with them. Once they had gone, Kelsey and Melody walked into her house to survey the damage Kelsey had done. It was quite extensive. It was going to be a pretty costly remodel. Melody didn’t seem to care, but Kelsey was feeling guilty, so she pulled out a medium sized pouch with a thousand gold inside and tossed it towards Melody.
“Here, take this.” She had prepared a few dozen of these pouches, as well as dozens for every hundred-gold interval below a thousand. She also had a pile of loose gold the size of Melody’s house sitting inside her storage. She hadn’t counted it, but she guessed it was in the millions. It was easy and cheap, mana wise, to create gold, plus she was getting quite good at metal creation and manipulation which was being helped along by her desire to make more money.
“Kelsey! That’s way too much money. No, you got me my pendant back, saved me, and have honestly just been a great friend today. I can fix the roof myself.” she said adamantly as she clutched at the newly recovered pendant hanging around her neck.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Listen, we are going to be together for a month, you’re going to learn a bit about me, trust me. I don’t care about the money.” Kelsey said dismissively.
“Okay, thanks… I appreciate it… When do you want to start that training?” she asked as she put the bag down on the counter.
“Tomorrow. Get someone to fix your house while we’re gone, we’re going to head out to my cabin in the forest for the training.” Kelsey said as she began walking out the door. “See you tomorrow around noon?”
“Alright see you tomorrow at noon.” She nodded and said determinedly. “And Kelsey… thanks…”
Kelsey nodded her head and left the city before activating her teleport and arriving in her bedroom, where she immediately collapsed into bed and went to sleep.
Waking up the next day, Kelsey was greeted by the sight of Bud sitting at the foot of her bed staring up at her happily. “Hey Bud, did everything go alright while I was gone?” she said as she walked over and gave him a quick pet.
Bud gave a short bark and started wagging his vine tail as he nodded 'yes'.
“I’ll be leaving again in a couple hours, but I’ll only be gone a little while. We’re going to have someone living with us for a month or so. She’s going to be teaching me how to fight with a sword. Should be entertaining.” As Bud heard there was going to be another new person to hang out with, his tail started wagging even faster.
About an hour before midday, Kelsey said goodbye to Bud, activated her teleport, and arrived in the outskirts of Neim. She made her way into the city and found Melody talking with a craftsman about reconstructing her house. Since she was going to be gone for a month and had just received a massive windfall in the form of Kelsey’s money, she decided to get her house totally redone. She even bought the two houses on either side of her so she would be returning to a much larger home.
Half an hour later, the contractor left, and Melody was ready to go. The pair walked out of the city back to the clearing that Kelsey had become accustomed to using for her teleportation in and out of Neim
“Close your eyes, I don’t know what this is going to feel like.” Kelsey said as they arrived.
“Wait, what? What are you going to do?” Melody asked with a bit of panic in her voice. Despite the fear, she did what she was asked and immediately closed her eyes.
Kelsey wrapped the two of them inside a bubble of mana and activated her teleport. “Teleportation.”
“Okay.” Melody said as she breathed out slowly, calming herself.
Teleporting just herself between Neim and the Mageblood forest while using Meditation took roughly 90 seconds. With both of them, that time doubled, taking a full three minutes for the teleport to activate.
Once it did however, the pair appeared on her balcony overlooking the forest below.
“Alright, it’s over. Did you feel anything? Also, if you see a green wolf made of vines inside the house, don’t attack him, he’s friendly.” Kelsey said as inside her domain she spotted Bud heading towards them.
“Whoa… that’s so cool…And no, I didn't feel a thing...” Melody muttered in awe as she looked over the vast forest below. “Where are we?”
“Northwest of Whitebranch.” She answered, pointing southeast. “The town is about 6 days walking that direction.”
“Awesome. So, where will we be training?” Melody asked as she looked around at the cabin behind her. “And wow, awesome cabin, it’s massive.”
Kelsey chuckled slightly. “We’ll be training down by the river. I figured it would be easiest if we didn't need to worry about damaging the cabin.”
Melody agreed and the pair began walking down towards the steps as Melody explained what they would be doing for the next month. Kelsey explained that she had used her sword against monsters plenty of times, but every time she fought a person who was trained, she was always at a huge disadvantage. Melody explained that fighting monsters created some very bad habits when it came to using a sword, and it was likely going to take them the entire month just to break those bad habits, let alone improve enough for her to fight someone on equal footing.
Sadly, Melody was right.
The next month of Kelsey’s life was a brutal lesson in humility. Kelsey was faster, stronger, and even had the advantage of her domain. It didn’t matter. No matter what she tried, she hadn’t been able to land a single hit on Melody without using her magic. And once Melody learned how effective Kelsey’s regeneration really was, she stopped holding back. This made every single day fighting against Melody a bloodbath, requiring Kelsey to eat dozens of pounds worth of food each day. But she improved. Slowly, her bad habits were beaten out of her, and she was able to go several minutes between serious injuries.
During the month, Melody learned a bit about what Kelsey was able to do, including that she could manipulate metal. She had shown as much by repairing Melody's weapon whenever it was damaged. Kelsey was using a blunted steel sword that needed repairing far less often. She had chosen a blunted weapon out of fear of hurting Melody accidentally. That hadn't been an issue of course, but it was a good precaution to have taken either way.
Kelsey was careful not to show too much of her skills. Melody was a nice person, but she didn’t exactly trust her the same way she trusted Owen, Lisa, and Gregroy. She still wasn't sure about the full story between her and Louis. The man hated her a whole lot for someone who just 'broke his son's heart'. Kelsey didn't bother prying into the information though, because honestly, she didn't really care that much. That was Melody's problem, not hers.
Kelsey did find out during this time why Melody practiced street magic. She apparently had a master of her own that she was learning her illusion magic from. He recommended that she learned the fundamentals of sleight of hand and practical illusion to help her understand the concepts surrounding her illusory light magic better. Kelsey asked if her teacher was an Otherworlder, but Melody claimed she didn't know. Her reaction to the question was telling however, as she tensed when Kelsey asked. Again, Kelsey didn't bother prying. Melody's business was her own.
At the end of their month, Kelsey and Melody had become something akin to friends, and Kelsey was somewhat disappointed to see her new friend leave, but Kelsey had other responsibilities to attend to. She had spent the past couple months gaining power in the form of training, learning about magic, and how to fight better with her sword, but now she needed to buckle down and get some real studying done. So, she teleported Melody and herself back to Neim where they said their goodbyes. Kelsey promised that she would come visit again someday.
Before leaving, Melody explained that she would likely be away from Neim for a few years with her master. They were planning on pushing her all the way to Immortality. She wasn’t able to say more, but apparently, they knew of a private dungeon that could take her all the way there. Kelsey wanted to ask about the private dungeon, but she sensed that Melody was going to be unwilling to tell her, so she let it be.
Melody clearly had her secrets, just like Kelsey had hers. Melody hadn't asked about Kelsey's, so Kelsey returned the gesture and let Melody keep hers. By the end of the month, they were both painfully aware that neither person was exactly who they claimed to be, but it worked out. Kelsey learned quite a bit about sword fighting, and Melody gained a ton of gold. Kelsey didn't think her sword would become her main way of fighting any time soon, but it was a nice skill to have in reserve.
After Melody left, Kelsey reactivated her teleport, and traveled back to the Mageblood forest. Appearing in her cabin’s study room, she summoned her new books, and her recently won auction item.
[Sage’s Notes - Ascendant]
A Sage’s journey into the secrets of magic and the soul.
Time for some wisdom.